Five Minutes Before, Five Minutes After
by Harley-kun
Summary: Feliciano has been with Ludwig for a while. Feliciano knows they aren't soul mates, but it's hard to think of leaving him. The transition is surprisingly easy as his timer goes off and he sees his pretty soul mate. ( SOUL MATE TIMER AU)


Feliciano, a young student attending university in London, looked nervously down to his soul mate clock. Of course, he knew, there is only five minutes left. Five minutes until the love of his life would appear, and he would have to tell Ludwig. Ludwig is just a fling he has, someone who also hasn't found his soul mate yet. Ludwig and he just wanted companionship, they knew they weren't right. It never felt right, either, and both of them knew the slip in unavoidable. Ludwig's clock read four years when Feliciano's own had read three and a half, so it's no surprise that Ludwig wouldn't want to be here with him now. It's only been a year since Feli has been around Lud, but it's been full of nerves and stress. As the years, days, and hours turned to days, hours, minutes, then finally to hours, minutes, seconds, Feliciano had cried and desperately wanted to call Ludwig. His only real companion, his only real romantic experience. He would have to give that up soon and start all over again. Hopefully with someone he could feel complete with.

The light on the cross walk turned to the little white walking man, and Italy went on with the crowd. Curiously, the rest of the crowd didn't spare him one glance, even as he walked along with them. His clocked ticked away, drawing no attention. Thankfully the clocks are mentally ticking, it had started that at ten minutes. No one could hear besides himself. His brother, Lovino, had met his soul mate in high school, back in Italy. He was walking home when he told Feli about the ten minute ticking, and soon enough Lovino met the boy he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Lovino's watch rang in tune with the man they met, then fell off. Feli wouldn't have known about the ticking if not for that, as not many schools around really teach about the clock's workings.

The clock ticked a bit louder in his mind, four minutes left. He was going to meet Ludwig at first, then the ticking began. He hadn't been paying attention to his watch, and he was happily going to meet Ludwig after their year of separation. Flipping out his call phone, he tapped in Ludwig's number. His hands shaking, Feli brought the phone to his ear. The cheerful ringing made a tune with the ticking, and Feliciano felt his eyes filling with tears. Of course he would cry, he's always been a very sensitive person. Feliciano just wished he would be able to stop before he met his soul mate.

"Hello? Feliciano, is that you?" Ludwig's gruff and serious voice came through the speaker. Feliciano looked down to his watch, his hand shaking as he stood with his back against the closest building. A few people looked over with smiles, happy to see someone about to meet their soul mate. Some looked over, checking their watch to make sure they weren't Feliciano's. "Hello, are you okay?" Ludwig asked, his voice softer and more concerned now. Feliciano took in a couple deep breaths. Zero hours, Four minutes, Seven seconds.

"I'm sorry. Today is the day, Luddy. I have four minutes left." Feliciano found himself quietly crying. His breathing turned to quiet gasps, his phone shaking against his ear. Tears rolled down his cheeks, leaving hot trails. The sobs choking from his mouth came out in puffs in the cool December air. He heard Ludwig on the other side, but didn't listen to his words. "I'm so scared, Luddy. What if they hit me or hurt me?" Feliciano cried, looking down to his wrist, shaking harder. He had missed the louder tick. Zero hours, Three minutes, Thirty-three seconds.

"Just calm down, Feliciano. You're soul mate is a soul mate for a reason. You're meant to be together." Ludwig sighed. Feliciano heard the sadness in his voice, and silently wished Lud was his soul mate. "I'm going to meet my soul mate in three months. I'm going to have to leave you, too. Now I'm going to hang up, and you're going to meet the person you're supposed to be with." Ludwig said, his recovery quick from the sad tone. Feliciano nearly yelled when the small beep indicated that Ludwig wouldn't coach him through the meeting. Feliciano silently slid down the wall. Looking down to his watch, Feliciano watched it tick down. Zero hours, Two minutes, Nine seconds.

Of course Feliciano would be scared. His grandfather would kill him if his soul mate turned out to be someone he wouldn't like. He liked Ludwig, and that's the only reason they were together for the short while they could be. What if his soul mate is a convict who ran away from jail? What if his soul mate is an abusive asshole? What if his soul mate doesn't even show up? Feliciano pulled his legs up to his chest, resting his head on them. His fluffy scarf, a dark purple one Ludwig's brother had given him, made an excellent tissue while his tears fell.

His breathing slowed, and soon his tears stopped. When his tears stopped, however, the sky did. Rain started drizzling down, and Feliciano's coat doesn't have a hood. The small curl sticking out out of his bright auburn hair bobbed up and down as it was hit with small rain drops, and the rain got heavier almost instantly after it had just begun. A small ding from beside of him indicated the door to the building behind him opening. Feliciano nearly had a heart attack, hearing footsteps click over to him. The rain stopped falling on him, and he peered up just as his watch went off, a matching tune playing from the inside of the stranger's coat sleeve.

The man's eyes went wide as he held a umbrella over Feliciano, and he clearly wasn't expecting his watch to go off. The man's hair was flattened slightly by the rain, his hair a dull golden color. The man's eyes are a bright, forest green. His skin is pale, and his cheeks are a bright red now. The man, curiously, is wearing a bright green apron under his dark coat, along with a white button up shirt. The green apron reads '_London's Flowers,_' and the fan pulls his coat together to hide the logo.

"Hello, I saw you were a bit cold?" The man muttered, his gaze averting from Feliciano's. A small click sounded, and Feliciano felt his exposed watch fall to the ground. The man's clicked a moment after, it trapped in the man's sleeve. The man put his arm to his side, letting the watch fall out on it's own. The man stood there for a minute, looking over Feliciano as he sat against the dull red bricks of the shop. They both were awkward, the man looking over his soul mate as he pondered what to say next. "Do you want to come inside? I'm sure you must be frozen." The man smiled down shakily, watching as Feliciano's cheeks turned a darker red. Pushing against the wall, Feliciano get onto his feet.

"Alright." Feliciano squeaked, smiling dumbly at the pretty man he had just met. The man wasn't anything like Ludwig, Feliciano noticed. Just a bit taller than himself, messy blond hair, feminine build. All the opposite of the strong man Feliciano had been with. His hands are also smaller, Feliciano found, as the man held out his hand. "I'm Feliciano." Feli smiled as he took the man's gloved hand, seeing him smile bigger.

"I'm Arthur, it's nice to meet you." Arthur greeted, his voice much calmer and his heart now back to a normal beat. "I own this little shop, you know. I looked out the window and there you were, sitting against the wall. Were you crying?" Arthur talked as he led Feliciano into the store, the glass door surrounded by a light green frame. Feliciano ignored the question, hoping he wouldn't care. Pained onto the door is a small logo; _London's Flowers. _"I can also tell you in complete honesty I didn't name the store. My aunt did, and she was sick. My partner then, a man named Francis, felt bad so he made me name it that." Arthur explained, getting a small nod from Feliciano. He wasn't usually shy, but this kind of situation is new to him.

The door opened with a small ding, the same one that sounded when Arthur had came out of the store. The inside is filled with flowers of all colors, growing and flourishing inside the little shop. Arthur blushed a bit when he looked over, only to see Feliciano's amazed expression at his pride and joy. Arthur then realized he hadn't let go of Feliciano's hand, and also that his own was getting sweaty.

"Wow, this is very nice! I've never seen such pretty flowers!" Feliciano gawked at the flowers, his hold on Arthur's hand tightening as he walked around, leading Arthur and asking the names of the flowers. "This one?" Feliciano asked, pointing to a large red flower, bursting with beautiful red petals. The flower was attached to a small bush, but there were no thorns to be seen on the dark green stems.

"Those are dahlias." Arthur smiled, leaning over and plucking the large flower off of it's stem. It filled his entire hand, the soft petals brushing his skin. "I love them, they're almost as precious as roses to me. They aren't very common either, and I had to get these seeds imported." Arthur laughed a bit, remembering the time his aunt asked for a flower more beautiful than a rose. Of course, the rose is a beautiful flower, but the dahlia is much more unique. Dahlia's are even easy to support, but they don't last as long as other kinds of flowers.

"Wow, they're beautiful! I remember when my boyfriend Ludwig would show me all sorts of German flowers when I visited his house one day." Feliciano smiled, remembering back to the large home in western Berlin and the long walk around. Looking over to Arthur, Feliciano saw a slight panic in his eyes. "No, no! That's not it! he's my old boyfriend! Sorry, sorry. I just, you know, I'm sorta used to calling him that. We broke up earlier, while I was sitting in front of the store." Feliciano stuttered, smiling up to Arthur. Arthur stayed quiet for a minute, still gripping Feliciano's hand. Feliciano worried that Arthur may leave him right then.

"I guess I should also tell you I only broke up with Francis two days ago. His own wrist will still be beeping on for another year." Arthur admitted, smiling over to Feliciano as he put the large flower into his new soul mate's hands. "I have work all day. I live upstairs here, so you'll know where to find me, okay? If you need, you can stay here. I have a spare bed and the shop isn't very busy." Arthur offered, his gentle smile still in place. Feli smiled, looking down to his wrist. In very elegant handwriting is the signature of his soul mate, where the clock used to be. _Arthur Kirkland._

"Can I stay here? I could help work. I don't have any more classes for the day." Feli said, his smile still there and ever-present. Arthur found himself staring blankly at Feliciano's pretty face. His light, honey brown eyes and auburn hair. His skin having its own natural tan. "Arthur?" Feliciano asked after a second, gaining Arthur's attention again.

"Yes!" Arthur said a bit too loudly, his awkward side rearing it's ugly head again. "I mean, yeah. I want you to stay around. You can either work or stay in my house upstairs. The beds are both made because I saw my watch this morning and I didn't know if you'd be staying over or not. Also, don't look in the drawers of the bedside table! I wasn't sure what would happen, and I was planning on getting drunk if no one showed up." Arthur stammered, saying just a bit too much. Feliciano only laughed, nodding as he started to like Arthur a bit more. Feliciano'd have to make good use of whatever is in those drawers, though.

"Point me to the stairs, Arthur?" Feliciano requested. Arthur lead Feliciano to the back of the store, to a locked room, where a set of off color concrete stairs lead up to the second story of the building. the room around the stairs is filled with flower care tools, like water and pots. The tiles on the floor, white and light green, didn't look very good near the ugly, off color grey of the concrete. "I'll have to paint that for you. Those stairs don't look very good with the tile." Feliciano commented with a snort.

"Well, I had to put the damn stairs somewhere. Plus I didn't really have anything else to put there." Arthur mumbled angrily. Feliciano just smiled up to his soul mate, going to the stairs and crouching on his way up. His head poked into the upstairs, and Arthur laughed a bit. "You can let go of my hand now." Arthur commented as his arm stretched. Feliciano's head came back into view, a pout easily seen on his face.

"Aw, but it's warm!" Feliciano snickered, kissing the back of Arthur's hand before letting it go. Arthur blushed, pulling back his hand quickly. "I'll see you later, Artie!" Feliciano cheered as he went all the way into Arthur's small home. Arthur found himself cursing his work hours as he heard the door to the shop open.

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><p><em>woah so many cute aus but so little time, so little inspiration. sigh. i like this, though. feli is too cute, and i love artie. if you wanna read the partner story to this, you can read A Bit too Young. pece. (This is a one-shot i thinkshot)_

_okay, this is now continued in a fic I'm about to post. This and my other story, Just a Bit too Young(which isn't shota btw), will be continued in The Meeting and Onward!(including exclamation point.)_


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